Flamethroat (33 page)

‘It’s … complicated,’ I said.

‘Does it need to be?’

I thought about this for a moment. Of course it was complicated. Being with Jack had already proved to be a distraction. Were we not already late for the pro-Human meeting?

‘Let’s not talk about it,’ I said as I heard my father and Jack coming down the stairs. My father put a hand on my mother’s back and led her out of the Inn. I looked at Jack for an indication that he was okay, but he avoided eye contact with me. I followed my parents and Jack tagged along behind us.

I noticed that he kept a meter distance from me at all times. I wanted to know what my Dad had said to him in private but I couldn’t ask that just yet.

‘So where is this meeting?’ I said in an undertone to my mother.

She put her finger to her lips to indicate that I must be silent. I sighed and kept my mouth shut for the remainder of the walk.

Flamethroat was silent. The streets were empty. I thought that the guard would be patrolling at night, in the hopes of finding the creators of H.E.L.E.N.A. However, we didn’t see anyone along the way, which I thought was strangely lucky.

After fifteen minutes, my father led us down a narrow alleyway with very uneven ground. I stumbled on the cobbled stone but Jack grabbed my arm before I fell. Once steady, he quickly let go of me.

‘In here,’ my father muttered, ushering us in through a little wooden door at the end of the passage.

Ducking inside, I saw that we were in a cellar. Bottles of wine lined the walls and several candles illuminated the room. There were many people here already, all of whom were sitting in a circle; at least half a dozen, but I didn’t recognise any of them. They all seemed to be middle-aged couples.

‘Kenneth,’ one of the women said. ‘We thought you weren’t coming.’

‘Sorry Elise, we were delayed,’ my father replied.

‘Not the guard?’ Elise’s husband said with raised eyebrows.

‘No, nothing like that Bran.’ My father waved it aside.

‘Who have you brought with you? More members?’ a tiny woman with mousy hair piped up.

‘This,’ my father put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Is my daughter, Avalon, the one I told you about. And this is her … friend, Jack.’

Many people raised their eyebrows and muttered between themselves. At that moment, it came to my attention that there was another person in the cellar that had not yet spoken a word. There was a man who sat in a chair in the middle of the room, staring dazedly at the floor. The circle of chairs surrounded him.

‘Come and sit down dear.’ My mother took my hand and led me to a chair in the circle.
Jack sat two chairs away from me
and stared fixedly at the man in the middle.

‘I think introductions are in order,’ my father said. ‘Elise, why don’t you go first?’

‘Hi, Jack, Avalon. I’m Elise Stalk. I am host to the Power of Speed. I’m the one that has been putting up all the posters across the valley. No way they’ll catch me doing it. Oh and this is my husband, Bran. He is strong.’

Elise and her husband were both very tanned and very fit. Bran gave me a small nod of acknowledgement.

‘Hi,’ Jack and I said in unison.

Next in the circle was the mousy woman.

‘I’m Penny Truscott,’ she squeaked. ‘I can fit into tiny spaces.’

‘How tiny?’ Jack asked at once.

‘Well,’ Penny smiled nervously, ‘Once, I locked myself out of the house and managed to slide in through the mail slot.’

‘But how-’ Jack began, bewildered, but he was interrupted by my father clearing his throat loudly.

Penny Truscott smiled. ‘I guess the best way to describe it, is that I’m like rubber. And this is my partner, Tom.’

‘Wotcher,’ Tom Truscott greeted us. ‘I’m a mimic. I can borrow people’s Power when I am close to them.’

‘That’s handy,’ I said, impressed.

Next was an older couple, who looked to be in their sixties.

‘Pleasure to meet you Avalon and you too Jack,’ said the greying man. ‘I’m Robert Scotland and this is my wife Maria. We can manipulate earth and stone.’

‘
Bonjour
,’ Maria said in a soft voice.

‘It’s nice to meet you all,’ Jack said politely. ‘Um, I’m Jack and I’m a Healer.

‘Oh good,’ squeaked Penny Truscott. ‘How useful!’

I felt that I would not be very useful to this group for I would be the third Fire-Mage to join.

‘And who is that?’ I murmured to my mother.

My father walked into the middle of the circle and put his hand on the man’s shoulder, he had barely seemed to notice.

‘This, Avalon, is Bobby Scotland. He is Robert and Maria’s son.’

Bobby Scotland was drooling on his shirt. I didn’t know whether it would be rude to ask what was wrong with him, so instead I nodded politely.

‘He is Human?’ Jack asked.

‘Correct,’ Robert Scotland stood and walked over to his son, ‘He was born a Human and raised as a Mage, as were all of our children.’
He indicated around the circle
. ‘He was a smart boy. C
lever. Worldly.’

‘What happened to him?’ I asked.

‘The Realm discovered that ‘e was ‘uman and zey took ‘im,’ Maria said harshly, ‘Zey erased ‘is memories and left ‘im as a shell.’

I felt my insides turn. Was this what all processed Humans looked like? Bobby Scotland stared transfixed at his own hands, spittle hanging from his drooping mouth. There was no sign of intelligence in his eyes. Sadness welled inside me.

‘How did you get him back?’ I asked quickly. ‘Didn’t they sell him afterwards?’

‘They auctioned him at the Human market in Concord City, luckily for us, no one else bid on him. They had no use for a Human in his thirties. You know, most Humans don’t live past forty.’

‘So you bought him?’ I said.

Robert Scotland nodded and patted his son on the shoulder. ‘What else could we do? We paid one gold piece for our own son.’

I understood. It must have been heartbreaking for Robert and Maria to get their son back with all traces of his personality erased.

‘But that’s not all,’ my father said. ‘We have been using Bobby to test whether the erasing of the memories is permanent. We still aren’t certain if it just
represses
memories or if it destroys them completely. From what we have learned so far, a processed Human still has the capacity to learn. Watch this.’

I stared as my father knelt in front of Bobby and took his hand.

‘Hello there,’ my father said. ‘Can you tell me your name?’

No response.

‘What is your name?’ He said louder this time.

‘Bo -’

‘Yes, that’s right. Tell me your name.’

‘Bo-ee.’

‘Bobby, that’s right. Good boy.’

Bobby smiled dopily. It was pitiful.

‘So, he can say his name,’ said Jack. ‘But is that from memory? Or has he been taught it?’

‘At this stage we aren’t sure,’ Robert said. ‘He may have heard us say it a number of times and just picked it up, much like children do when they are first learning to speak. However, if it is from memory then it is an indication that the process might be reversible.’

‘We also have another theory on what the injection might do. There is the
possibility
that the serum simply cuts off certain parts of the brain,’ my father added. ‘Such as the memory cortex or the ability to speak.’

‘What does that mean?’ I asked horrified. ‘Like, brain damage?’

‘Something like that,’ my father said. I could see the sadness in his eyes. ‘It is possible that these poor people are prisoners in their own head – unable to control their speech or communicate effectively.’

‘So they’re vegetables?’ My temper was rising.

I felt my mother grab hold my hand, but I ignored her. This was too much to take in. Helena, a vegetable.

‘It’s not all bad news,’ Robert Scotland said kindly. ‘If the serum only blocks those parts of the brain, there may be a way to unblock it. For all we know Bobby could be completely aware of everything that is going on right now, but simply unable to communicate.’

‘So, how do we know if it is permanent?’ Jack asked.

‘We are working day and night with Bobby to help him improve. Hopefully, in another week he’ll be able to learn his parent’s names.’

It’s not good enough,
I thought to myself. Re-learning things wasn’t the same as remembering.

‘So,’ said my father, taking a seat. ‘Everyone here has had their loved ones taken away from them. Robert and Maria are very lucky to have their son back, but the rest of us are not so fortunate. The aim of H.E.L.E.N.A is for each of us to be reunited with our families.’

‘I want to help,’ I said at once. ‘Sign me up.’

‘Sweetheart, it might be dangerous,’ my mother said.

‘I’ve been in dangerous situations before. Hawthorne and I make an excellent team. Hawthorne is my animal companion,’ I added quickly.

‘What is he?’ Elise Stalk asked.

‘A fox. He is big and strong,’ I told her. ‘He can fly.’

‘Flight may come in useful,’ said Tom Truscott, the mimic.

‘Avalon is just a child -’ my father began.

‘I am not,’ I said hotly. ‘I’m almost nineteen
and
I’ve been on my own for months now.’

‘You don’t know what it will be like. We may have to fight other Mage’s who will be much more powerful than you can imagine.’

‘Avalon can take care of herself,’ Jack piped in. All eyes snapped to him. ‘I’ve seen it. Besides, neither Hawthorne or I will let her get hurt.’

My father pursed his lips and looked as though he wanted to retort, but did not get the chance.

‘Are the two of you prepared to put your lives on the line to fight the war against Human enslavement?’ asked Bran Stalk.

‘Yes,’ I said fiercely. I looked to Jack, expecting him to show the same determination.

He nodded. ‘Of-of course.’

And so it was settled. Jack and I were the newest members of the Human Emancipation League.

~

The meeting was complicated. Elise Stalk pulled out an assortment of building plans of the Martinez Manor, showing where she thought Humans would most likely be kept.

‘You can see there is a dungeon underneath the kitchens here.’ She outlined a small, rectangular room. ‘We can break in through the servant’s entrance at the back of the manor, but the stairs that lead to the dungeons are through this corridor here -’

‘So if we know where they are being kept,’ I said, ‘why can’t we just go and get them?’

‘It’s more complicated than that,’ Elise said. ‘Nicholo Martinez is a very rich man and has a lot of security around his manor. He controls the largest shipping business in the south, which makes him very powerful,’ said Elise.

‘We have been doing research on the security around the manor,’ Bran Stalk took over. ‘I have a friend who works the docks and has overheard a few things. From what we have learned, Martinez has a group of cronies who go everywhere with him. We don’t know what their Powers are just yet, so we are waiting to learn more about them before we break into the manor.’

‘What is Martinez’s Power?’ Jack questioned.

‘Martinez can absorb most forms of energy.’ Tom Truscott said.

‘Like you?’ I interrupted.

‘No, not like me,’ Tom explained. ‘I can mimic Powers to a certain extent, for a short amount of time if the host is close to me. However, since I am only a level four Mage, my Power is limited. Martinez, on the other hand, can absorb light, heat, or electricity and channel it into whatever form he likes. This might be superhuman strength or enormous blasts-’

‘But if you mimicked him,’ I began slowly, ‘can’t you do the same thing?’

‘Like I said,’ Tom sighed, ‘My Powers are limited by my level. Martinez is a much higher level than all of us. Level eight, I think. I would not be able to mimic his Power completely. And since none of us are a level eight-’

‘I am,’ Jack interrupted. All eyes turned to him.

‘What?’ I gaped.

‘I-I’m a level eight Healer. Not that it helps much,’ Jack shrugged, ‘I can’t Heal Martinez into submission.

‘You never told me that!’ I said outraged.

Jack shrugged. ‘What does it matter? How else do you think I can out-heal your burns? If I was a lower level I wouldn’t be able to touch you when you combust.’

‘It matters a great deal,’ my father said. ‘This means you can heal at the same rate that Martinez absorbs energy.’

‘So?’ Said Jack, still confused.

‘So,’ my father said impatiently, ‘you may be the only one who can get close to him without sustaining permanent damage.’

‘Get close to him?’ Jack repeated. ‘Why would we want to get close to him? Won’t we try to free these Humans without notifying Martinez?’

Elise rolled her eyes. ‘Of course we are going to attempt a stealthy rescue; however we cannot assume that there won’t be a fight. Martinez and his cronies will defend the manor against intruders. We must accept the possibility of a fray.’